Low and away is good but the Pittsburgh revolution will be the best travel team in Pittsburgh. they had a much better tournament than low and away. The roster for revolution is stacked compared to low and away.. the goalies are nabors from lebo, culicha from seneca both had and outstanding weekend. the d was impressive and the middies were outstanding including O'Dell who lead the team in scoring and hanibal a kiski kid.. the attack was rob kendall (who couldnt make it but was on the team) McNichol and kincaid.. graham is playing on the summer team so i would say low and away does not have much on this team

Low and away is good but the Pittsburgh revolution will be the best travel team in Pittsburgh. they had a much better tournament than low and away. The roster for revolution is stacked compared to low and away.. the goalies are nabors from lebo, culicha from seneca both had and outstanding weekend. the d was impressive and the middies were outstanding including O'Dell who lead the team in scoring and hanibal a kiski kid.. the attack was rob kendall (who couldnt make it but was on the team) McNichol and kincaid.. graham is playing on the summer team so i would say low and away does not have much on this team

I do not see where you are coming from when you say that Pitt Revolution had a "much better tournament than low and away" considering that Pitt Revolution went 4-2 and Low and Away went 4-1-1. Anyways, I am upset that all of the talent in Pittsburgh is being dispersed with all of these club teams. I really thought that this 2013 class would have an awesome club team if all of the best players were on ONE team. With that said I do think Low and Away and Pitt Revolution will be the best. I see Low and Away having a better defense and midfield unit, with Pitt Revolution having a better attack. We will see when the rosters are released in the next couple of weeks.

It is always fun to win, and trying to win is the goal of any game, but winning isn't the main reason to play summer ball. It is a chance to be coached by good coaches (all the summer teams have good coaches), to be exposed to different coaching philosphies and styles, and to go to tournaments that offer better talent than we have in WPA under the belief that you only get better if you play against teams/players that are better than you are. Then you bring your improvements back to your WPA team and share what you learned. And, having played a spring season and wanting kids to be kids and enjoy some plain old summer relaxation and family vacation time, more tournaments and practice isn't necessarily better. All this recruiting stuff won't amount to anything for most of the kids around here, they are still going to go to college to get an education. If they can have fun playing lacrosse at any level, NCAA or club, that is a bonus.

How many times have these same guys changed the name of their club teams? Aces, Rebels, Select, Pittsburgh Lacrosse, Revolution? I have been around for a while and something tells me something isn't working here. Pretty delusional to say that Revolution had a better weekend or a better team when Low and Away went 4-1-1 with 14 guys and Revolution went 4-2 and lost to a team Low and Away beat by 10 if that is indeed the case. Revolution has Rob Kendall? He is a senior and can't play this summer anyway, correct? Low and Away doesn't have any Seniors from what I understand. Is Pittsburgh Lacrosse even having a team this year? Who are they going to pull from if they do. Is the empire of mediocre lacrosse services and thriving retail stores coming to an end? After being on both ends of the summer lacrosse spectrum, I will say Low and Away has been by far better coaching and more helpful in recruiting than anyone else. There is an energy and an enthusiasm that isn't matched, don't know if its because those guys are younger or just have played at the highest levels and understand the game better. Who knows, I guess options are good.

both pittsburgh teams did well this past weekend...Low and Away beat a team that the Revolution lost too but the other hand the Revolution put up 14 where Low and away only put up 9 to MadLAx - MD...Revolution did not have Kendal...you can compare all your want and even measure third legs if you like but the fact of the matter is these are by far the best two club teams in Pittsburgh and the only real difference is that next summer the Revolution (Pittsburgh Rebels) will have a 2013 invite team (which in my opinion is the way it should be becuase that U19 U17 etc is just soccer crap)and Low and Away will have a U19 team made up of a few top 2013 (4 or 5) and guys form other classes...it is a shame that all of the 2013's didnt go with the Revolution as it would have been the best team ever form western PA...

pawestlax wrote:Is Pittsburgh Lacrosse even having a team this year? Who are they going to pull from if they do. Is the empire of mediocre lacrosse services and thriving retail stores coming to an end?"

You must not gotten the "Why you should play for Pittsburgh Lacrosse" email...

After being on both ends of the summer lacrosse spectrum, I will say Low and Away has been by far better coaching and more helpful in recruiting than anyone else. There is an energy and an enthusiasm that isn't matched, don't know if its because those guys are younger or just have played at the highest levels and understand the game better. Who knows, I guess options are good.

I wodl really like to know your opinion on why Low and Away has far better coaching and help int he recruitment process...if a guy understands the game better why are they not hired by the college programs they played for...every team especially D1 would die to have a qualified PRO on their roster?...agreed options are good

Do you choose a program with "coaches" (Hoff, Hastings, Moore) or a program with "players" (Peet, Stimmel, Kehoe)? Good question? Before you get all worked up, I'm not saying that the "coaches" were not "players and visa versa, just saying that they recent experiences is more "coaching" or "player".

Once again, it comes down to what the individual player wants. One benefit with going the "player" route is the "college connections" since they are more recently removed from the collegiate game. One negative for the "player" route is not having the years of coaching experience. Running practice the collegiate way is great at improving skill sets, but coaching during a game is a different story (match-up, adjustments, strategies....) and does require experienced eyes.

What about Pittsburgh Lacrosse, they have the coaches. Did all the kids leave to these two teams? How many recall when everyone was arguing Rebels versus ACES lol!

The recruiting aspect is from my experience with these Coaches, and to me it is not a tough decision, Low and Away will have the best team based on the other parents I have talked to and the kids love playing for guys that have done it. All of those guys were offered College positions, and there are plenty of people who are qualified HS Coaches that just don't want to Coach at the college level. These "players" are world class, from Pittsburgh. They have gone through the recruiting, they have competed at the highest level, and they seem to be very eager to share what has made them so successful. Why Chad Moore is so invested in a summer Pittsburgh lacrosse program is beyond me, seems like he should be focused on his 4-11 College team. All-Pro player, NCAA Player of the Year, Captain and Defensive MVP of OSU or 4-11 College Coach, WPIAL Assistant who never won a championship, and solid Sewickley Head Coach doesn't lead me to believe it is a tough decision. When it comes to recruiting connections vs game time coaching, recruiting takes the cake all day for summer lacrosse, that is what it is for. SV's game time Coaching seemed to be pretty good last year taking a much more talented Lebo team to a 9-7 game in the Semi's last year. Time will tell. I was very skeptical of Low and Away when it started, but after watching these guys Coach even a little and speaking with them, I have to say, they are the best option for Pittsburgh players trying to really learn the sport and prepare themselves to play in College.

I think too much emphasis is being placed on whether a coach is a former player, a college coach, a HS head coach etc... Truth be told, just because a player played lacrosse doesn't mean he can coach it, just because someone is a college coach doesn't mean he can coach youth or high school and just because someone is a good youth coach doesn't mean he can coach at a higher level.

When looking at the club teams, Low and Away has the best coaches and was proven by their success last summer and this fall. I don't care if my son's coach played in the pros or ever picked up a stick in his life so long as if he can communicate effectively, teach proper mechanics and fundamentals, teach the nuances of the game and get the best out of my kid.

Who cares what travel team went 4-1-1 and 4-2. It only matters to the parents who want to pop their chest out. It's meaningless. Only standings in the WPIAL matter. Remember, our best players in the WPIAL rarely go D1 and mostly play D2/D3.

I've had two kids go through summer lacrosse for a total of 10 years of the summer fun. One's playing in college and the other is thinking about options now. We touched many of the club teams that have sprung up over that time. Not much difference.

In the end, summer lax is helpful for recruiting, but only marginally helpful for individual skill development. There just really isn't a lot of hands on coaching going on. The older, experienced coaches seem more in tune than the newer, younger coaches with what a parent and player are looking for in lacrosse. Is all of the travel, expense, and time worth it? If you're doing it to pay for college, forget about it. If you doing for the fun and playing against better talent, then it can be worth it.

In the WPIAL, stick skills, footwork, and genuine hustle can get you put in the top group of players. Playing on a travel team doesn't really help you with any of those things. A lot of good wall ball, shooting practice, agility work, passing practice, etc. in the summer WILL definitely help you improve.

It's like an AAU baseball dad told me once after his first year of AAU baseball. His son and family spend a whole weekend of travel, time, and money for 15 at bats and a few field plays. Instead, he could spend 2-3 hours that weekend hitting 200 pitches and catching 100 fly balls in the same weekend at home. What makes the player better? (and the family with more money in its pockets and less stress) What will make his WPIAL team better?

agreed high school and club coaches jobs are to get the most out of their kids but to also help them with other camp/recruiting opportunitites and not to take those opportunitites away when that kid doesnt want to play with them in the summer...

Focusing on Fall Ball seems a little premature. Results from one tournament when a lot of the best players are playing other sports are just about meaningless. As for who is going to play for Pittsburgh Lacrosse this year I guess we will see after their tryouts in January. Low and Away is off to a good start but it has not caught Pittsburgh Lacrosse in terms of reputation yet, although they soon might. My understanding is that the Revolution is yet another try bu those behind the Rebels after they did a poor job with Pittsburgh Lacrosse last year.

Fact is by having large parts of the staff from RMU, Seton Hill, W & J, Mt. Lebo and CC coaching for them Pittsburgh Lacrosse has to have the edge in coaching resumes. How will that translates to the field may be up for debate but not their qualifications on paper.

Now that football season is over for all but a few, we can move on to more important things. Here is one question I haven't seen here. Who were the best players in the clutch, when the game was on the line, especially big games, in the past 5-10 years? Who will be clutch players in 2012 season?

those are some recent names, but I was thinking about all the past POY guys. Whitey, Mcandrew, Lally, Burke...go farther back and think of guys like Poillon, Stimmel, Mullen, Donnelly,etc. Think of guys who "want" and "demand" the ball in clutch situations and deliver against great teams and players. This is not meant to be everyone so I left guys off the list. But all those POY guys were clutch for their teams consistently - many were also the "go-to" guys on their summer teams which were loaded with talent, but they still got the ball when the game was on the line.

Great list put together, nice job infinite. GO WPIAL. You would think that is the highest number of wpa guys on NCAA and specifically D1 rosters than ever before. The clutch players discussion is an interesting one. Hard to be able to tell unless you have been in the scene for the last 6-7 years. Not many Coaches/families have been involved that long. Rullan, Hastings, Edleman, Tulk, how long has Stiles been at FR?

What does WPA as a region have to do to continue to get the numbers up in the ncaa representing NCAA.

I think it starts with Coaching, just harping on stick skills and playing smart would be first and foremost in my opinion. You look at Sewickley, that team has always been good with serious restrictions on numbers. They also generally have had the best sticks in WPIAL along with Lebo.

I will take a stab at best players at each position this year in WPIAL

AttackKendallDemichieiGraham

MidfieldDonnelly AbrahamYon

DefenseMacDougall??

GoalieSuccopAbbondanza

I do think this year is a 3 team competition between Lebo, SA, and SV. Believe NA will struggle this year, Franklin will be competitive as well.

Couple of FR names: Arcangelo is at D2 LeMoyne, Stephens is at Walsh which is going D2 (not Otterbein as shown), Riley might get a shot at playing at Navy if he tries to make the team. A few are playing on clubs also. Talking about clutch, Stephens game against SV in 2010 semis (6 goals and winner with 4 seconds left) all by itself ranks up there.